Chapter 14: A Tree Hill Raven always knows that when all else fails, try an intervention. And when an intervention fails, the problem's already been solved.
Haley lay in her bed staring at the ceiling above her. Brooke and Peyton were already fast asleep tucked away in their beds, light snores coming out of them, and Haley wished she could join them. But she couldn't. All she could do was lay there and think about what happened earlier today… Nathan… and his letter.
She'd managed to avoid him the rest of the day, fearing dinner but was relieved to find he hadn't joined them. However, the incessant stares from everyone else at table was anything but humbling. She could tell they knew something was up; and even more so, that they were getting sick of the constant tension and egg shells to be walked on.
Haley had to admit, she was getting sick of this too. In her mind she should just decide. Be friends with Nathan or be more. What scared her though, is the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to be more. And that was something Haley James didn't do. Let people in. Because when you let a person in, really in, they learn about you; about your background; about the past. And the past is something that Haley James was trying to run away from.
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Nathan lay in his bed unable to sleep. He had yet to see Haley since her oh-so-kind letter reading today, and it was making his stomach do flip-flops. He should have taken her walking out as a definite no; or as a sign that he royally screwed up with her. However, in the pit of his stomach he felt she'd give him a chance. Maybe not right now, but she would. Or so he hoped.
After who knows how long of lying in his bed, Nathan heard a light pattern of tapping on his window.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
However, it stopped shortly after. Must be a tree or something, he thought to himself. But, a minute later it happened again.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
"Alright, what the hell keeps making that damn noise," Nathan grumbled, slightly wincing at the fact he could have woken up Tim Smith, his roommate but brushing it off soon after. "Better not be Rachel with a booty call because I'm not going down that road again."
Peering out the window Nathan looked down at the darkened grass, the moonlight being the only thing lighting the area. At first glance, he only saw a small figure, however, taking a closer look, he couldn't miss that auburn hair. That auburn hair that belonged to one person. That beautiful, wonderful smelling auburn hair that could only belong to Haley James.
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Haley stood three floors below Nathan's dormitory room in her Happy Bunny pajama bottoms and worn sweater, cursing herself for ever thinking this was a good idea. I mean really, just because she is awake does not mean everyone else is; let alone Nathan Scott. And yet, here she was standing below him, throwing objects at his window with all her might. Granted she wasn't very strong so who knows if could even hear the light tap on his window. And who knows if he's even awake.
"Alright, that's it. Just one more try," Haley stated, throwing stuff up towards his window for a final time. She waited a few moments, and just as she was about to turn away, she saw his well-sculpted face, and seemingly uncovered abs peak through the window.
Nathan Scott was awake.
Nathan Scott had heard.
Nathan Scott was making his way outside… right now.
For some reason, this thought made her stomach tie into knots rather than the wave of relief she was expecting to feel.
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Nathan walked out of his dormitory, praising the fact that the head of the dorm had not caught him. He made his way along the side of the dorm that housed his room, but after turning the corner did not see anybody. Then it dawned on him, the swing.
Walking off towards his beloved basketball court, fit inside what they called the courtyard found directly between the backs of two of the boys and girls dormitories on campus, he saw Haley off in the distance on her swing. Okay so maybe it wasn't really her swing as in she owned it, but to him, it was her swing. She was only person he ever saw perched on it… not that he was looking or anything.
As soon as he reached the opposite side of the court, within twenty feet of Haley, his eyes began piercing into her, willing her to lift her head to meet him. Instead however, he got a throbbing pain in his chest.
"What the heck?" He muttered, realizing Haley had just thrown something at him. "Look Haley, you threw enough pebbles at my window. No need to throw them at me."
And with this, Haley finally lifted her head to meet his gaze; her eyes unreadable, and her lips showing the hint of a smile. "Look closer Nathan."
He peered down at the "pebble" that had just been propelled at his chest. "What the-" he began, picking up the object. "Is this a dog bone?"
Flasback
"Nathan…" Haley replied blushing.
"Just keep reading Haley. I'm about to freaking burst over here!"
"I like the way I feel when I'm with you. I know we have a connection, and I know you know it too. So please, give me a chance. I've never had feelings like this for someone before. I mean, in the past girls have come to me. I've never, you know, wanted to stay with someone, but with you, I never want to go away. I like you. I mean, really like you. And if you just trust me… trust us. We'll be okay. I promise Haley. So please, throw me a bone… give me a chance. Trust me."
End Flasback
"You said to throw you a bone," Haley replied sheepishly, a blush creeping over her face.
"No I di-" Nathan replied at first, but then a realization came over him. "Ohhhh. Yes, I did." He replied smirking.
"I believe you said, and I quote 'I've never, you know, wanted to stay with someone, but with you, I never want to go away. I like you. I mean, really like you. And if you just trust me… trust us. We'll be okay.'" Haley giggled, looking at Nathan's embarrassed face.
"Haley I told you not to repeat it to me! You're going to make me blush."
"Oh, like you've never done that to me before?" She chided, before looking back down at the ground, a small silence overtaking them.
"So, uh, not that I don't love this but, why exactly did you call me down at oh, three in the morning? Does this mean…"
Haley nodded in response before looking down at her gently swinging feet, a blush spread across her face.
"I want to hear you say it Haley," Nathan voice whispered huskily, causing Haley to look up at him in surprise.
"I… I want to be with you Nathan," she finally choked out. "I want to be your girlfriend."
And with that, Nathan closed the last couple feet, placing his hands over hers on the swing and dipping his lips down to place a soft, yet passionate kiss to her lips. "You don't know how long I've waited for you to say that."
"You don't know how long I've wanted to say that… surprisingly," Haley blushed. "But uh, I'm going to keep you to your promise. That we'll be okay; that I can trust you; that you won't hurt me."
"I never break a promise," Nathan stated softly. "Especially not to you."
"Good, because I don't want to get hurt. I sick of getting hurt. But I have to warn you Nathan. I didn't want to let you in because well… I come with a lot of baggage. So, if you're not up for that, let's end it now. Because getting attached only means getting hurt when you can't handle it."
"Oh ye of little faith. Haley James, just trust me. I don't care if you have a lot of baggage or a little. I don't care if you think I'm going to hurt you, because I know I won't. Just trust me. And be with me. It'll all work out," Nathan breathed, bringing his forehead down to rest on hers. "Did I mention that I really like you Haley James?"
"Yes you did," Haley admitted, her chocolate brown eyes staring up at his blue ones directly above her. "But I wouldn't mind hearing it again."
"I really like you Haley James," Nathan whispered before coming down to kiss her again. And there they stood, he snug nicely between her legs as he bent his head down to lay whispers of kissing on her lips and occasionally her neck. After a while she got up and let him take a seat on her beloved swing, situating herself nicely across his thighs, her arms linked behind his neck, laying a light kiss just below his jaw line before nuzzling her head into his shoulder.
They just sat there, holding each other until the sky showed a hint of a sun rising. Haley was the first to open her eyes. "We should probably go back before we get caught."
"Yeah probably," Nathan said nonchalantly before placing a kiss on her forehead.
"So I guess I'm going to get up now," Haley stated, lingering on her last couple words.
"Okay…" Nathan stated, knowing she wasn't about to budge, before squeezing his arms tighter around her.
"You're making this kind of difficult," Haley giggled, loving the feel of his arms around her. His nice, bulging, muscular arms, around her.
"Well that's cause I don't want you to leave."
"Alright, I have to get up before it gets any more light out," Haley finally let out, sad at the fact she had to leave his embrace, but brushing it aside as she stood up.
"If you must," Nathan replied standing up and willing her into a hug, placing a kiss on the top of her head.
"This feels good Nathan…" Haley stated. "Us."
"I knew it would," he smirked before pulling away to go back towards his dorm.
"I'll see you later. We'll tell the gang together at breakfast," Haley smiled, turning to go into her dormitory.
"Yeah," Nathan smirked, walking away, before turning back towards her one more time. "Hey Haley!"
"Huh?"
"Where did you get those dog bones from?"
"Don't worry about it," she giggled, before walking around the corner and out of sight.
Nathan walked back towards his dorm with a smile on his face. Haley James was his. And all he had to say, was it felt good… really good.
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The next morning, Peyton, Brooke, Lucas, and Jake were all sitting at the table eating their breakfast.
"Looks like neither one of them is coming again," Jake mumbled, shoveling a nice hunk of pancake into his mouth.
"Yeah, Haley said she'd meet us here in a few minutes but who knows. She's been so hot and cold lately."
"Nathan was following us, but who knows. Maybe he realized Haley would be here too and bailed. I'll just ask him later," Lucas stated before taking a sip of his orange juice.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm sick of all this avoidance stuff. I mean, we're all friends. And not that I don't love your guys' company, but I enjoy Nathan and Haley's too. They both need to either suck it up and tell each other they like each other, or just get over it. Because this tension can be cut with a knife and tired of the egg shells we have to walk on when either one of them are here," Peyton finally let out.
"Someone needs her coffee," Lucas retorted, causing everyone else to smirk. However, before Peyton could reply with some feeble comment, Brooke cut in.
"Oh Broody, don't be so mean. We all know we feel the same way. Peyton here has just finally had the balls or um, I don't know whatever, to say it. That is why I think we pose an intervention… today. Because seriously I just want things back to normally. No more empty tables or missing people, or a full table with a crap load of tension," Brooke huffed out. "I say we ambush them the next time we can wrangle them to be at one place at the same time. You know, force their feelings out because I mean it's obvious. I never seen Nathan trail after a girl like this and Haley… well she may be rough around the edges but it's obvious she reciprocates those feelings."
"Yeah…" Jake replied, knowing very well that Haley did.
"So, are you guys in?" Brooke questioned.
"Hell yeah! I'm sick of my brother moping. He's supposed to be Mr. Macho not Mr. Sourpuss."
"So it's settled. We're holding an intervention starting now!" Brooke squealed. They were going to get Nathan and Haley together. Because of the four of them knew, that deep down, those two had undeniable feelings for each other… too bad they don't know those were discovered last night.
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Haley walked across the campus, a huge smile on her face. Her hair was down in loose curls, cascading onto her flower-print thermal top, which were accompanied by a pair of jeans of Keds flats.
She made her way into the lobby of the dining hall, about to enter when she felt a firm grasp come onto her forearm and pull her into a closet. Before she could scream, a soft, pleasant pair of lips pressed against her and she knew instantly who it was.
"Nathan! We can't do that here!" She squealed.
"We just did," he smirked down at her, placing another kiss on her lips.
"Well, if you keep doing that we're never going to get to tell everybody," Haley blushed, willing herself away from him.
"Fine," Nathan stated before placing on last kiss on her lips and swinging his arm around her shoulder. "I'll kiss you later… now let's go in there and get this over with."
"Actually I was thinking we could have a little fun with this."
"Hmm… and what did you have in mind Ms. James?" Nathan questioned.
"Well, I was thinking we could go in there acting like we were still avoiding each other and see what happens. Maybe even start a little fight if we have to, then at the end pull a little 'You got Punk'd' kind of thing!"
"Who knew my girlfriend would be quite the schemer," Nathan joked.
"Ha-ha. Now let me go in like two minutes before you," Haley replied, giving his arm squeeze before leaving the closet and walking through the grand doors to the dining hall.
She went over to the buffet and grabbed her usual pile of fruit, waffles, and whatever else she was in the mood for, and made her way towards the table. Everyone greeted her with a quick 'hello' or 'hi,' but then went right back to her food. Egg shells, Haley thought. Good thing we won't have to keep walking around these damn egg shells.
A few minutes later, Nathan came wandering into the cafeteria, a smile on his face before he remembered the plan and quickly made it blank. He took the empty seat next to Haley and watched as the four others linked eyes with each other, giving tense glances.
After several more moments of silence, Jake finally spoke. "So uh, Nate. No breakfast?"
"Nah, not really hungry."
"Not even a little?" he continued.
"Not really, but I'll just take from Haley." Nathan replied before scooping up a piece of waffle and plopping it into his mouth. The foursome looked at each other, knowing that taking Haley's food is like making a death wish.
"Please tell me you did not just take some of my waffle!" Haley accused, her mouth slightly full.
"Nope."
"You are such a liar. I saw you."
"Then why did you have to ask if I did?"
"God! You are so annoying Nathan!" Haley complained, rolling her eyes in a huff.
"Oh no," Peyton mumbled. "Brooke, do something."
"Alright you two. Settle down," she began. "Enough fighting because we're about to tell you something."
"Yeah," the other three stated backing her up.
"We're sick of your bickering with and avoidance of each other. We're tired of the constant tension. I mean seriously, if I had invented a tension cutting knife and we used it every time you guys came near us, then I'd be a freaking millionaire!" Brooke let out.
"Uh Brooke…" Peyton urged her, trying to get her back on track.
"Oh right. Okay so here it is. Right here. Right now we're staging an intervention."
"A what?" Haley aske.
"An intervention. For you and Nathan. We all know you like each other-"
"Brooke," Haley tried to interject.
"No let me finish. We both know you like each other-"
"Brooke," Nathan tried.
"Would you both stop interrupting?!" Brooke let out hastily.
"No," Nathan replied. "Because Haley has this annoying drop of syrup on the corner of her mouth."
"Okay Mr. Newly-Established-OCD… Haley could you get that off your mouth so we can all actually have a conversation?" She huffed.
"Yeah, sure." Haley replied looking next to her. "Nathan?"
The four friends all kept their eyes on Haley as they saw Nathan Scott, lean down towards her mouth and place a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth; his tongue, playing softly on it making sure to get the little drop off. He pulled away and intertwined his fingers with Haley, looking at her, and then finally over to her friends who were now staring at the two of them. Their mouths all a bit open.
"Oh," Brooke began.
"My," Peyton continued.
"GOD!" They both squealed, causing the two boys next to them to wince.
"You guys are together?" Brooke questioned intensely.
"Since when?" Peyton added in.
"Yes we are," Haley stated.
"And since about three o'clock this morning." Nathan finished, giving Haley's hand a squeeze and looking over at her before turning back to everyone.
"It's about damn time man!" Lucas cheered.
"Definitely," Jake agreed. "Haley I was about to let the cat out of the bag if you didn't tell him soon!"
"You knew!" They all shouted, including Nathan, giving him a shocked look.
"Since Thanksgiving… she made me promise not to tell!" He pleaded.
"Whatever man. I finally one her over with my charm and good looks anyway," Nathan stated, a nice smirk plastered on his face.
"Well aren't you cocky? How do you not know it's cause of that sappy love le-"
"Haley!" Nathan screeched.
"Love note?" Lucas inquired, laughing to himself.
"Don't say I word Luke or I will pound you."
"Who knew you were so romantic?!" Jake swooned jokingly, getting a high five from Lucas.
"I'm going to kill you," Nathan grumbled before looking at Haley. "And you said you weren't going to bring this up!"
"Oh, did I?" Haley asked innocently, blinking her eyes up at him.
"Yes, you did. And now you're going to pay."
"And how will I do that?"
"One kiss for every tear I shred," Nathan replied humbly, his face inching closer to hers.
"You're not crying Nathan," Haley pointed out giggling.
"Well, not on the outside. But on the inside I'm bawling," he said, smirking, before bringing his lips to her for a passionate lip-lock.
"You make me want to puke man," Lucas chided, causing Haley to pull back reluctantly and Nathan to send him a death glare. If looks could kill.
"Well I think you're adorable," Brooke stated, a smile plastered on her face. "Now girlies let's go back to our room before our first class so we can gab about Haley and her new stud."
"You think I'm a stud, eh Brooke?"
"I think you're not too horrible on the eyes but don't let it go to your head. Besides, Lucas here is much hotter," she stated with a smirk.
"Whatever. Haley knows I'm the hotter Scott, right?"
"Of course…" Haley said reluctantly.
"You don't?" Nathan questioned, bewildered.
"Kidding! Of course I do. I mean, last night when you came to the windows with now shirt on, I almost-"
"Definitely girl talk time, NOW!" Brooke squealed pulling both Peyton and Haley out of their seats.
"At least let her finish the sentence!" Nathan called back, but it was too late. The girls were making a beeline out the door and his girlfriend was once again whisked away from him to tell all the heartfelt details of early that morning. He couldn't help but notice as she walked out the door how perfect she was. Her perfect personality: quirky, unrefined yet intelligent and kind. Her perfect body: short, tiny, with curves in the right places. And just plain old perfect. Plain old perfect Haley James. And man, did Nathan really like her.
Yes!!!
Naley finally! It's been 14 chapters too long! Haha! I hope you liked
the way they came together. I thought it was pretty cute. And this
chapter was pretty long. Quite possibly my longest yet for this
story! WHOO! claps Anyway, drop some lines and let me know what you
think. Love it? Hate it? Could have been better? Let me know! Until
next chapter... Peace, Love & One Tree Hill! - K :)